North & South – June 2019

NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019| 25

smoke,dealingwithsoaringtempera-

tures...Sometimesasa pilotyou’reso

closetothesourceyouhavetoturnyour

faceawayfromtheheat,andit’sexperi-

encethathelpsyoujudgehowcloseyou

cangetwithoutit meltingsomething.”

Fightingfires,especiallyfromtheair,

inevitablyhasitsdangers.Almostex-

actlytwoyearsbefore,helicopterpilot

andformerSASmemberSteveAskin

crashedanddiedwhilefighting

Christchurch’sPortHillsfire,leaving

behindhiswifeandtwoyoungchil-

dren.Buttherisksinvolvedinflying

helicoptersaresomethingtheReid

dynastyhaslearnttolivewith.

Bill’sfather,John,flewfighterplanes

inWorldWarIIandwasa pioneerofthe

NewZealandhelicopterindustry,found-

inghisNelson-basedcompanyHelicop-

tersNZinthe1950s.It wasstilloperating

whenBillandwifeRobynsetuptheir

ownbusiness,NelsonHelicopters,in

1983. “There were a few years when it

butneveroneofthisseverity,”Billsays.
“Andneveronesoclosetohome.”
Theblaze,believedtohavebeen
causedinthetinder-dryconditionsby
a sparkfromagriculturalequipment,
wasfannedbysoutherlywinds,sending
a vastplumeofsmokeacrosstheregion.
Atnight,theglowcouldbeseenfrom
Nelsoncity,morethan30kmaway.
On6 February,thedayafterthefire
brokeout,a stateofemergencywas
declared.Theblazewouldeventually
sweepacross2300ha;thousandsofpeo-
plewereevacuatedfromtheirhomes
and 23 helicopterswereinvolvedin
whatwouldbecomeNewZealand’s
largestaerialfirefight.
Tobyandhisteamsharedtheload,
workingshiftstoensureeachhadtime
awaytorest.“Itwasincredibletobepart
ofsomethingthatbigandbytheendof
eachbreak,you’dbereallyreadytoget
backupintheair,”saysBill.“Thecondi-
tions were very intense, flying through

Opposite:Third-generationhelicopter

pilotTobyReid(right)withhisfather,

Bill–nowoneofToby’semployees.

Topandabove(atleft):Tobyinaction

aswildfiresburnedaboveNelsonin

February.Atotalof 23 helicopters

wereinvolvedinwhatbecameNew

Zealand’s largest aerial firefight.